Having been a massive fan of the first Paranormal Activity film, and still enjoying the sequel, I felt it made sense to check out the third.
The original film employed minimalism to perfection, calling upon very subtle noises and anomalies to call attention to what was effectively a film shot in a bedroom over the course of a few weeks. The sequel, taken up by new producers I believe, decided to overhaul the formula and bring to the fray what every cheap horror film lover craves. Jumps. The film brought with it an intriguing back story, involving a demon (shocker) who wanted to steal the couple's son, and would let nothing get in its way of achieving this disturbing objective. Cue plenty of crashes, bangs and wallops as cinema audiences across the world screamed and shrieked their way through this over the top and frankly cheapened horror experience.
Watching the third film made me realise just how decent the first film is/was, simply because the idea of the POV style is horribly abused in this film. When using POV throughout a film, you leave the audience open to be scared at the drop of a hat, simply because anything popping out of the periphery can scare the audience. In PA3, it happens far too often, especially towards the end, and it feels horrible, tacky and cheap. The only real element of interest was the notion of the cult, which - led by Kate's grandmother - was urged to make sure that a baby boy was taken by the demon. One particular scene sees Kate's father (I think) stumble into what seems to be an assortment of cult members, who subsequently follow him in a disturbing manner. Sadly, this was the only real moment of surprise.
It becomes very repetitive and boring very quickly. Sadly, there is a fourth in the works.
6/10
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